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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599660">A Wild Encounter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophene/pseuds/sophene'>sophene</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gotham's Protector Universe [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Bruce Wayne is Not Batman, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Gen, Poison Ivy is a Superhero</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:35:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599660</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophene/pseuds/sophene</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A continuation from my Gotham's Protector universe where Catwoman is the vigilante and Bruce is Gotham's best dad. </p>
<p>Wayne Manor gets a couple more surprise visitors in the middle of the night.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alfred Pennyworth &amp; Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth &amp; Jason Todd, Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gotham's Protector Universe [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>204</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Wild Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>All you need to know to read this fic (if you don't want to read the first one) is that Bruce adopted Dick when Dick was really little. Bruce ended up devoting his life to being a dad and Selina ended up becoming the vigilante. Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Killer Croc are also superheroes in this universe.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bruce’s bedroom was buried so far back in the Manor that most of the time he couldn’t even hear what was happening at the front of it. Early that morning, however, the house was quiet enough that not only did he hear the distant sound of the doorbell ringing over and over again, but it actually woke him up from a deep slumber.</p>
<p>Ace, laying at the end of Bruce’s bed, picked up his head and let out a low growl. Bruce ignored the dog and got up, but the doorbell stopped ringing as Bruce was pulling on his robe. He wasn’t surprised at all when Alfred’s voice spoke through the intercom in his bedroom a moment later.</p>
<p>“<em>Master Bruce, are you awake?</em>”</p>
<p>Bruce went over to the intercom. Into it, he said, “I am.”</p>
<p>“<em>There’s a visitor for you here, sir</em>.”</p>
<p>“It’s 4 a.m.”</p>
<p>“<em>She’s rather insistent, I’m afraid</em>,” Alfred said.</p>
<p>“I’ll be right down,” he said, and headed out of his bedroom with Ace at his heels.</p>
<p>On his way downstairs Bruce considered the possibility that it was Catwoman at the door. But no, he reasoned, ringing the doorbell wasn’t her style. If Catwoman wanted to talk to Bruce she would just break in.</p>
<p>The front door was open when he got to the front hall, but Alfred was standing in the doorway, blocking his view of their late night visitor. Alfred stepped out of the way when Bruce tapped him on the shoulder and Bruce stepped outside to see who was there.</p>
<p>Poison Ivy and a child were standing at the bottom of the stairs.</p>
<p>Behind him, Ace let out another low growl.</p>
<p>“Hello Dr. Isley,” Bruce said.</p>
<p>Poison Ivy had one hand gripped in the hood of the child’s sweatshirt. He was perhaps a couple of years younger than Dick and skinny in a way that hinted at neglect. He looked angry. Poison Ivy did too, and judging from the way she was holding onto him, he wasn’t there because he wanted to be.</p>
<p>“Hello Mr. Wayne,” she said.</p>
<p>“What can I do for you?” Bruce asked her.</p>
<p>“This boy needs a place to stay for the night,” Poison Ivy said, jerking her head sideways at the child.</p>
<p>Bruce, frowning, examined the boy again. His jeans were filthy, and the hoodie wasn’t in much better shape. Winter had not yet quite tipped into spring and it was chilly outside. The boy wasn’t dressed warmly enough for the weather.</p>
<p>“Alright, of course,” Bruce said, and shifted his attention back to the boy again. He asked him, “Why don’t you come inside?”</p>
<p>The boy opened his mouth to say something, but Poison Ivy didn’t give him the opportunity. She started to haul him up the stairs, still holding him by the hood of his sweatshirt. He shouted and tried to twist out of her hold, but it was a wasted effort.</p>
<p>She deposited the boy just beyond the threshold.</p>
<p>“Why don’t you come along with me to the kitchen?” Alfred asked him.</p>
<p>The boy’s furious gaze wandered from Alfred, to the dog, and then around the hallway, but when Alfred said, “Come along,” and started walking, he followed without complaining. Bruce watched as Ace went after them.</p>
<p>“A word, Mr. Wayne,” Poison Ivy said.</p>
<p>Bruce turned back to face her. “Yes?”</p>
<p>“I caught him trying to break into my lab.”  </p>
<p>Bruce wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with this information.</p>
<p>“Do you know where his parents are? It’s very late,” he said.</p>
<p>“They’re dead. Harvey murdered them,” she said.  </p>
<p>Bruce’s eyes widened. He said, “I see.”</p>
<p>“You’ll have to keep an eye on him. He’ll probably run.”</p>
<p>“And if he doesn’t?” Bruce asked. This was a rather different problem than he’d envisioned when he offered his assistance to Catwoman and her associates over a decade ago.</p>
<p>Poison Ivy was unapologetic, however. Her expression was uncompromising when she said, “I’m sure you have the resources to work something out.”</p>
<p>She turned and left without another word, heading down the steps and vanishing into the estate’s greenery like a kind of ancient creature Alfred used to read him stories about when he was a child. With a sigh Bruce went back into the house. He made sure the door was bolted behind him and set the alarm again before he went to look for Alfred and the child.</p>
<p>Bruce could hear Alfred’s voice as he approached the kitchen.</p>
<p>“Whenever I make hot chocolate for myself I always add a little bit of chili powder. It’s a trick I learned from someone I used to know from my theater days,” he was saying.</p>
<p>Bruce entered the room and saw that the boy was sitting at the counter, listening as Alfred gathered supplies to make his famous hot chocolate. Ace was sitting on the floor next to him, but he was leaning away like the dog might scare him.</p>
<p>“You can try it first with the chili powder, but if you don’t like it I can make you a cup without,” Alfred said.</p>
<p>Alfred turned to fetch something from a cabinet and noticed Bruce had arrived.</p>
<p>“Would you like a cup as well, Master Bruce? Or perhaps some tea?” Alfred asked him. </p>
<p>“No thank you, Alfred.” Bruce whistled and said, “Ace, back off.”</p>
<p>Ace huffed, but did as he was told and wandered off out of the kitchen, probably to go whine outside Dick’s door. The boy’s shoulders relaxed minutely when the dog was gone. Meanwhile, Bruce went over and sat down two spaces away from the boy, leaving an empty spot between them.</p>
<p>This was going to have to be a delicate conversation. He decided to proceed as if Poison Ivy hadn’t told him anything.</p>
<p>“What’s your name, lad?” Bruce asked.</p>
<p>The boy turned to look at Bruce with furious, haunted eyes.</p>
<p>“I’m not going to tell you. I don’t even know you,” he said.</p>
<p>“We have to call you something,” Bruce said, but wasn’t terribly surprised when this got no response.</p>
<p>Alfred stepped back over nearer to them and asked the boy, “Would you like whipped cream?”</p>
<p>He answered with a shrug.</p>
<p>“I shall take that as a yes, unless you specify otherwise,” Alfred said, and wandered off again to the refrigerator.</p>
<p>“Is there somewhere you’re supposed to be right now?” Bruce asked the boy.</p>
<p>He didn’t even bother turning his head. His eyes were blue, Bruce noticed, but not the bright cerulean blue of Dick’s eyes. His eyes were the cold, steely blue of a frozen ocean, remorseless and unforgiving.</p>
<p>“I just want to know if there’s someone who might’ve noticed you were gone and is worried about you,” Bruce said.</p>
<p>“No,” he snarled.</p>
<p>“Ok. Well, in that case, you probably should stay the night. Some of my son’s old clothes will fit you. We can wash your hoodie and jeans so that they’re clean for you tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“I don’t need any clothes,” the boy said.</p>
<p>Bruce raised his eyebrows, but held his tongue. In the bright light of the kitchen Bruce could see that the boy’s clothes were even dirtier than he'd thought when he first saw him. He also smelled musky and even faintly of urine. He was too young to fend for himself, and if Harvey really had killed his parents, then it was likely the boy had been homeless. His hoodie and jeans might be the only clothes he had.</p>
<p>Bruce was so distracted by these worries that Alfred’s presence slipped his mind, so it was a surprise when Alfred stepped back over to the counter and set down a cup of hot chocolate in front of the boy. Bruce was surprised again when the boy grabbed the cup right away and took a sip.</p>
<p>“It’s a little early, but I suppose I could whip up something to eat. Do you like the chili powder?” Alfred asked him.</p>
<p>The boy nodded and took another longer sip of hot chocolate.</p>
<p>“And do you like eggs?”</p>
<p>He nodded again.</p>
<p>“How do you prefer them? Scrambled, sunny side up, over easy?”</p>
<p>The boy answered with another shrug.</p>
<p>“I’ll make some toast and scrambled eggs. Perhaps some bacon as well,” Alfred said, and bustled off again to start cooking.</p>
<p>Bruce attempted to ask a couple more questions, but gave up when it became apparent that he was only succeeding in annoying the boy. Alfred filled the silence with a running commentary about the food he was cooking, and the boy sat there watching at him in an exhausted, surly way that nonetheless betrayed the fact that he was listening.</p>
<p>When the food was ready Alfred piled it all on a plate and handed it to him. Just like with the hot chocolate, he accepted the food and started to eat right away. Alfred resumed cooking as he ate, and went on cooking until he said he was full.</p>
<p>“I’ll find you some pajamas, and then we can get you off to bed, lad,” Alfred told him. “There’s a nice guest room all set up and ready for a visitor on the third floor. The door locks from the inside and it has its own bathroom. No one will bother you in there. Bruce will find a change of clothes for you and you can fold up what you’re wearing and leave it outside the door for me. I’ll make sure everything gets washed and returned to you in short order.”</p>
<p>The boy was drifting sideways in his chair. He nodded and blinked slowly like he might drift off right then and there.</p>
<p>Since it was obvious that the boy liked Alfred far better than he liked Bruce, Bruce left to go look for the pajamas. The kitchen was abandoned by the time he found the clothes, so Bruce made his way up to the third floor looking for them.</p>
<p>He could hear quiet voices talking around the corner as he approached the guest room and stopped to listen out of sight.</p>
<p>“I don’t have any money,” the boy was saying.</p>
<p>“That is unfortunate, however, you do not need any money at the present moment,” Alfred said.</p>
<p>“What does he want from me? Why did Poison Ivy bring me here?”</p>
<p>“She brought you here because she knew you would be safe here,” Alfred told him.</p>
<p>“What if I want to leave?”</p>
<p>“We are not abducting you,” Alfred said. “If you wish to leave we will take you somewhere. That being said, we will not drop you off in the city in the middle of the night and leave you there. It is far too dangerous for a young person such as yourself to be out alone in the city at this hour.”</p>
<p>“I can take care of myself,” the boy said.</p>
<p>“That may be the case, but you shouldn’t have to,” Alfred said.</p>
<p>There was a pause. Bruce almost continued on toward them, but something held him back.</p>
<p>Quietly, so quiet that Bruce almost couldn’t hear it, the boy said, “My name is Jason.”</p>
<p>“Well, then we are properly acquainted now,” Alfred said. “You can call me Alfred.”</p>
<p>“Ok.”</p>
<p>They fell silent again and this time Bruce did continue on down the hall and around the corner, stepping a little heavier than usual so they could hear him coming. Jason was standing in the doorway to the guest room, looking small and shabby surrounded by the absurd grandeur of the Manor.</p>
<p>“I brought a variety of things just in case you get cold,” Bruce said.</p>
<p>Bruce handed the bundle of clothes to Jason, who accepted them with a wary glance up at him.</p>
<p>“You can use the intercom to contact me if you need anything,” Alfred said, and Bruce lingered outside in the hallway as Alfred showed him how to use it.</p>
<p>At last Alfred stepped out of the room and Jason shut the door. Bruce heard the lock turn.</p>
<p>He and Alfred exchanged a look and carried off down the hallway a bit. When they were far enough away to speak privately, they stopped.</p>
<p>“He told me his name is Jason,” Alfred said in a low voice.</p>
<p>“I heard.”</p>
<p>“He’s a bit skittish. I fear he may take off as soon as we look away.”</p>
<p>“I’ll stay up and make sure that doesn’t happen,” Bruce said.</p>
<p>“Are you sure?”</p>
<p>“Yes. Head back to bed, Alfred. I can wait for Jason’s clothes and get them in the washing machine. You’ve done enough to help tonight.”</p>
<p>Alfred touched him on the shoulder, but said nothing else as he turned and headed off toward his bedroom.</p>
<p>Bruce went to his study, his mind already preoccupied with thoughts of everything he needed to do. He needed to talk to his lawyer, and maybe the social workers who ran the Wayne Foundation’s group home. He could call Commissioner Gordon and ask him for information about what might’ve happened to Jason’s parents. He’d have to research some psychologists who specialized in working with children who have PTSD. It was kind of Poison Ivy to literally drop a traumatized child on his doorstep and leave him to deal with his care. Not for the first time Bruce wished he had a way to get in touch with Catwoman. He wanted to have a word with her about her friends.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Bruce had to concede that he knew better than anyone what happened to a person when wounds were left to worsen. If Two Face really had killed Jason’s parents, then Jason was going to need help, real help, not just a meal and a place to sleep for the night. If this was the way that Bruce could be useful, then he would do it.</p>
<p>He rubbed his face as he considered the long day ahead, and got to work.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't know how into this universe I want to get BUT I do know that Catwoman started off as a thief but turned into a hero of the people type like Robin Hood. Similarly, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Killer Croc started off as villains, but Selina was able to convince them over to her side. Joker got hit by a bus before the idea of becoming a supervillain even occurred to him, because it's 2021 and I'm sick of Joker. </p>
<p>Anyway I hope you enjoyed the fic</p></blockquote></div></div>
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